Trade-book.



No. 679,74l. Patented Aug. 6, I901.

A. A. GLISSUN.

TRADE 800K.

' (Apphcatxon filed Apr. 30, 1901. [No Modei.) 3 Sheets-Sheet l.

dOHN D 0 E zzzzwJs-msT, AUSTIN,TEX

RICHARD ROE. 7n JOHNSTON s-r., DALLASJ ISSUED MONTHLY. CIRCU ATIONLIMITED.

1 fiv 126 I araalak'ow) No. 679,74l.

A. A. ausson.

TRADE 800K.

(Application filed Apr. 80,1901.)

(No Model.)

Patented Aug. 6, l90l.

3 Shouts-Sheat 2.

DISCOUNT, FIRMS. ETC.

AUSTIN, TEX.

JOHN DOE F $3 Noliae Z0 Holder:

DALLA$,TEX-

RICHARD ROE.

.Fl'. WORTH, TEX.

JOH/V mil 1 AENS H A T,

==- 5 H 0 ES,

1: =-CLOTH| LATEST STYLES FINEST QUALITY.

2222 W. I5TH. ST., AUSTIN, TEX.

REMARKS.

me nomus PEYERS o0 wuorourna. wismnmon. 0. c4

No. 679,74l. Patented Aug. 6,190l.

A. A. GLISSON.

TRADE BOOK.

- (A lication. filed.Apr. 30,. 1901.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Shaat 3.

susmzss REPRESENTATION. 0/5601/4/7' CHECKS COMMERCIAL HOTEL.

HOU$TON,TEX.

RATES $3.00 STRICTLY BUSINESS REPRESENTATION. SUMMARY SALES EX PATENTYFFICE,

AMOS A. GLISSON, on FORT WORTH, TEXAS.

TRADE-BOOK.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 679,741, dated August 6,1901.

Application filed April 30, 1901. Serial No. 58,183. (No model.)

To aZZ whom-it may concern:

Be it known that I, AMos A. GLIssON, a citi-v zen of the United States,residing at Fort Worth, in the county of Tar-rant and State ofTexas,have invented a new and useful Trade- Book, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates generally to tradebooks, and specifically to abook constitutingat once an advertising medium, discount credential,expense account, and daily reminder, and incidentally a diary.

The objects ofthe invention are to create, hold, and increase thetradeof advertisers employing this system; to render advertisementsequally valuable to advertisers, irrespective of the place'or spaceoccupied in the book or advertising medium; to enable advertisers tojudge or closely approximate the value accruing to their business fromadvertising under this system; to afford thorough and direct protectionto advertisers against excessive charges for advertising,which whilenecessary for increasing business would at times be unwarranted undercertain conditions of trade. r

The object stated under the first head is accomplished throughdistribution of the discount credentials to buyers or consumers atregular intervals,either with the compliments of the advertisers or at afixed price, such credentials containing the advertisement of thedistributor and presenting elements of but temporary yet substantialvalue, the credentials being limited as to circulation, as to value, andas to length of time of validity, the circulation of the credentials tobe confined within specific limits or boundaries, as opposed toextensions of circulation over as large an area as possible, as iscommon to all other advertising mediums or systems.

The object stated under the second head is accomplished through the useof a definite system giving the names of advertising firms, &c., andtheir city or town and street addresses, and through the use of numbersfor all advertisements setting forth the lines or classes of business inwhich the advertisers are engaged.

The object stated under the third head is accomplished by making itnecessary for pun chasers or consumers to indicate whether adper book,the issuance of the credentials in monthly issues only, the limitationsof circulation to a certain basis per thousand of populationof therespective or specific cities,

towns, or sections interested, and by effecting the advertising upon abasis of subscription for the credentials rather than by a spe cificcharge for advertising representations or for the space occupied by suchadvertisements.

Under the above provisions all advertisers are in position to contributein a definite way either toward the enlargement or restriction ofcirculation in their respective sections or communities, according ascircumstances dictate, provision being made that under no circumstancesshall the total circulation per month exceed a given or limited numberof credentials based upon the population of the section in which thecredentials are em-' ployed.

The advantages attending the employment of the system embodying thesubject-matter v of this application are that a direct cooperationbetween the manufacturers of the credentials and the merchants oradvertisers is eifected as opposed to the use of advertising agencies orsubagencies, whereby the expense of establishment and maintenance ofsuch agencies is obviated, and that in so far as possible acash systemof doing business is effected as opposed to a credit system of doingbusiness, thereby placing a premium upon cash business and obviating thenecessity,

with attendant trouble, expense, and risks,

of keeping accounts with and in favor of or against holders ofcredentials, thus in a marked degree contributing toward enablingdealers likewise to purchase their goods upon a cash basis, resulting insaving to them such discounts in cash as are usual betweenwholesaledealers and manufacturers and retailers.

The employment of the system is attended withthe further advantage ofdiscount allowances at the time of purchase to credential holders andthe further protective advantages of limiting the discounts of any onetransaction to a certain amount and of conment of a directintercommunicable-or intertown system is in part the obviation ofnecessity for advertising agencies or subagencies for distributionpurposes or for the purpose of arriving at convenient settlements withpurchasers holding credentials, the credentials under this system to bedistributed to dealers or advertisers direct by the manufacturers upon asubscription basis and at a set price per copy and with advanceadvertising contracts to cover, and, further, the reduction of expenseof publication by concen-' trating the advertisements of the dealers ofseveral communities of a county or State within the covers of each copyof each edition issued in their joint behalf as opposed to the expenseof separate editions for each community, the enlarged benefits to boththe dealers and advertisers and to the purchasers or holders ofcredentials arising from the fact that the credentials are available foruse by tourists,v commercial travelers, and other persons who travelmore or less in the various communities rather than-in only onecommunity. This system is strongly differentiated or opposed to systemscapable of being operated only as a separate and distinct proposition ina town or of being operated only in connection with advertising agenciesor those systems in which no provision is made for designating thevarious discounts allowable to purchasers, in the absence of whichpurchasers or consumers residing in the country or in any city or towncould not be kept informed as to the various discounts allowable orchanges therein as offered by merchants of other towns or communities.Under the systems last referred to there is a failure to contemplate orprovide for non-transferable credentials or for designating the ownersof the distributed credentials, so that without provision of means toprevent indiscriminate distribution, as by the employment of some checkor indicating means, it would be impossible for the owner of the book,should he lose it, to tell by the credentials given toa merchant whetherthose credentials belonged to him or to another.

Under the present system, as pointed out,

it is proposed to limit the circulation of the credentials, tolimittheir time validity-that is to say, the length of time in which thecredentials are good for discountsand to limit to a certain figure oramount the discounts allowable in any one transaction, without which, asa part of this system, advertisers a could not satisfactorily,effectively, or even legitimately increase or decrease their discountolfers from time to time or at set or stated intervals for thesake ofbusiness safety, and, further, should advertisers make such changes ofdiscountofiers or per cents. arbitrarily as against outstanding andunlimited credentials such'action on the part of the advertiser wouldnecessarily be at the risk of embarrassment, since without the use of atime-validity safeguard holders of outstanding credentials would be in aposition to demand any discounts previously efiective or obtainable,regardless of how or when such holders may have gained possession ofsuch credentials. The features of the time validity and maximum singlediscount may prove valuable to dealers or advertisers at any timethrough the changes of business elements and environment, such asincrease or decrease of competition or of rental or other.

expenses or through changes of business 10- cations, &c., as well as forother reasons.

Under the limitations employed in this system the advertisements willhave greater power, because concentrated and because hundred and fiftypopulation of the cities or towns'in which operated, such distributionto be in favor of difierent persons from time to time, the time-validityfeature in connection with this system giving an advantage of inducingtrade within specific cycles or periods of time and of retaining itsnovelty through its mode of operation and the presentation of apractical means or medium of, carrying or -maintaining accounts ofcurrent traveling expenses and daily reminders of future engagements,&c., thereby making the medium trebly useful and forcing the discountproposition and advertisements before the holder with never-varyingconstancy.

A further advantage of the system is in' the security accorded to theowner of the credential-book by having designated upon or within thecover of each credential with ink or in any other definite manner thename and address of the party (purchaser) to whom issued and of makingthe credentials nontransferable, thus enabling merchants or advertisersto keep a record of the numbers of the credentials and of their issue,in connection with the names and addresses of parties to whom issued,soas satisfactorily and effectually to change their favors of distributionfrom month to month, and, further, to avoid honoring such credentials inthe hands of wrong parties.

As further indicating the advantages accruing from the employment of asystem such as defined and somewhat to reiterate what has before beensaid the use'of advertising agencies. established for either the purposeof distribution or for the makingof convenient settlements with holdersof cards, sheets, or books, as in systems now in vogue, is obviated,since as in my system the credentials or advertising mediums are sold todealers or advertisers upon a basis of subscription with advancecontracts to cover, and they can be issued direct to such subscribingdealers or advertisers from the hands of the credential manufacturers,thus avoiding the necessity and expense of handling or distributingthrough advertising agencies or subagencies. The cost or expense ofpublication is greatly reduced by concentrating the advertisements ofthe dealers of several communities of a county or State within thecovers of each copy of each edition issued in their joint behalf, asopposed to separate issues or editions for each community, therebyavoiding the necessity and expense of a greater number of editions andof frequent changes of advertis-' ing copy,which would thereby be anecessary and extra expense.

With the objects stated in view the invention consists in the bookconstituting a discount credential, expense account, and daily reminder,as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts, I haveillustrated diagrammatic-- ally a form of the embodiment of myinvention, it being understood that the same may be departed from in themanner and order of arrangement of its parts without departing from thespirit of the invention, and in these drawings- Figure 1 is a view inelevation, exhibiting the outer cover of the book. Fig. 2 is a similarview showing the inside of the outer cover of the book and the firstpage of the book. Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the inside of thefirst page and page three of the book. Fig. 4 is a similar view showingpages fourteen and fifteen of the book. Fig. 5 isa similar view showingpages eighty-eight and eighty-nine of the book. Fig. 6 is a similar viewshowing the last page of the book and the inside of the book-cover.

In the specification the numbers written out thus, one, two, fourteen,fifteen, &c., refer to the page-number at the bottom of therepresentations of the different pages of the book, and the numerals 1,2, 850., refer to the parts of the bookand pages thereof.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a between its covers ninety-twopages; but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to thisnumber of pages, as they may be increased or diminished withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. The front cover 2 of thebook is provided with printed :matter stamped into or otherwiseexhibited on the cover, indicating the value of the discount creditscontained in the book, the price of the book, the number of the book,the name of the owner and his residence, together with the month inwhich the discount coupons are available or valid, and the name of thefirm issuing the book, the space occupied by this matter in the presentillustration of the cover being left blank. On the inside of the frontcover 2 is to be pasted or otherwise exhibited a calendar 3, togetherwith certain printed matter, for the use of the advertisers or users ofthe book, the cover also being provided with a printed measuringrule atfor the convenience of the user of the book.

The leaves or pagesof the book are divided into groups or sections underthe following headings, namely: Business representation as indicated bypages one, eighty-eight, and ninety-two; Discount firms, &c., asindicated by page three; Expense account and daily reminder, asindicatedby pages fourteen and fifteen; Discount checks, of which thereis but one sheet, as indicated by page eighty-nine.

The inside of the back cover 5 of the book is provided with a page 6,headed Summary, suitably ruled to accommodate entries for a month, thatbeing the period of time for which the books are issued, the Summarycontaining a Date column for thirty-one days, a Sales column, and anExpense column, the columns being preferably arranged vertically,,and aTotals line, Average sales per day line, Average expenses per day line,Salary or commissions per day line, and Per cent. of expense to salesline. On this summary in a small space and in a concise andbusiness-like form may be entered the entire sales amount, expenseaccount, and other data for a month, this presenting a feature that willbe found of great advantage to traveling men.

As shown, the Business representation IIO pages are embraced in pagesone, eightyber, and in this column, opposite each division 8-whereinappears the name of a merchant, his street address, town or city ad-.

7 tuting a contract.

notice to the holder relative to the firms advertising in the book andthe other descriptive matter to guide the user in the proper employmentof the book, the notice consti- The Discount firms, &c., pages each hastwo columns 9 and 10, respectively, the column 9 containing thediscounts given by the firms and the column 10 containing the number ofthe advertiser, this latter referring over t6 the Businessrepresentation pages. On the Discount firms, 850., page (designated 11)will appear the city or cities in the community or section of countryusing this system and the name of the merchant, these being arrangedalphabetically. Thus on the sheet indicated by 11 appears Austin, Texas,John Doe, Dallas, Texas, Richard Roe, and so on. By referring to theadvertising-column 10 at the right of the, name John Doe it will be seenthat his advertisement -number is one, and by turning to the Businessrepresentation page (designated by 7) and looking in the first division,which will be advertisement-number one, John Does full address will befound. The numbers in the discount-column 9-in this instance, twelve,ten, twenty, &c. refer to the Discount checks page, (designated by 12 inFig. 5.) The Discount checks page is divided up into fifty coupons, ormore or'less, each bearing in this instance the figure one, representingthe number of the edition, the abbreviation No. referring to the numberof the book and the amount of discount given, such as two centsdiscount, twenty-five cents discount, and so on. In

the use of these coupons the amount of discount will be limited, as inthis case, to two dollars, although this amount may be increased ordecreased, as may be found necessary in the use of the book or system.To illustrate the manner in which the coupons are to be used, it will besupposed that a person desires to purchase some clothing and that theperson lives in Austin, Texas. By turning to the Discount firms, 850.,page the name of John Doe, of Austin, Texas, will be found, it beingunderstood that there are to be several firms under the heading ofAustin, Texas, one only, however, be-

ing shown in this instance, and after the' name of John Doe appears thefigure 1, this referring to the advertisement-number, and by turning toadvertisement-space No. 1, under the head of Business repre sentation,it will be found that John Doe conducts business at 2222 West Fifteenthstreet, Austin, Texas, it having been previously ascertained from thediscount-column that John Doe gives a discount of twelve cents on thedollar. Suppose the'goods purchased amount to enough to entitle thepurchaser to fifty cents discount. The coupons necessary to make up thisamount will be detached from the Discount check sheet by the merchant orsalesman, and the amount of the discount will then be subtracted fromthe amount of the purchase, the merchant or salesman, however,ascertaining by reference to the edition-n umber the specification ofthe month for account of which the credential was issued and the name ofthe rightful owner of the book, as indicated thereon, that he (thepurchaser) is entitled to the discount. Instead of following theprocedure described above to ascertain the dealer desired the purchasermay first turn to the Business representation portion-of the book and bylooking through the d'ifierent advertisements obtain the desiredinformation.

The Expense account and daily reminder shown in Fig. 4 and designated 13consists of sixty-two pages bound in the regular order, two pagesrepresenting one day of the month. One of the pages (fourteen) isprovided with a space 14, containing a merchants advertisement, andbelow this advertisement is a blank space 15, headed Reminders,engagements, &c., which constitutes the Daily reminder. This page, asalso page'fifteen, is provided with horizontal lines 16, and pagefifteen is further provided with vertical columns l7.- On the horizontallines on page fourteen is printed such matter as will be of use totraveling mensuch,

1 commercial traveler for various purposes, the

amount of money expended being entered in the vertical columns 17 ofpage fifteen. At the'bottom of page fifteen there is arranged a spacebearing the requisite printed matter to indicate Total expense to-day,Previous expense brought forward, &c., the matter contained in thisspace being carried over into the Vertical columns 17 of page fifteenand there footed up, so that at the end of each day the travelingman-may know exactly how he stands as to expense and sales,

&0., and as to what amount of money he has made. Opposite the wordsTowns and Arrived via on the Expense account and daily reminder page aretwo spaces, numbered, respectively, one and two, for use in designating,also respectively, the first and second towns visited and the first andsecond railroads or routes used upon a given day or date. To the rightof the columns 17 there is left a blank space 18, headed Remarks, and inthis space may be entered any matter of'importance or of interest to thetraveler,

this portion of the sheet constituting a diary. Each of the Expenseaccount and daily reminder pages is provided with an index 19, referringto the day of the month, and headed by the word Dates, so that the usercan immediately turn to any page or date desired with readiness andease. Bound in with the Expense account and daily reminder pages are inthis instance three blank pages, (indicated on the index by stars 20,)these blank pages being provided to give additional space upon whichentries extraneous to business matters may be entered. It will beunderstood that a greater number of blank pages than three may beemployed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that as an advertisingmedium a book of this character will be of value, for the simple reasonthat the advertisements of the merchants must be read in order to enablea prospective purchaser to ascertain the class of goods handled by themerchant, the special inducement in the nature of discounts or savingsin purchases being constantly manifest. Further, that by the protectivefeatures thrown around the coupon or discount-checks it will bepractically impossible for an unauthorized person to receive the benefitof the discounts, provision being made for recording all credentials ofeach edition as issued, so that in case of losses effective notices maybe issued, preventing others than the proper owners using thecredentials to advantage.

As pointed out, these books are to be issued monthly, so that a personcannot hold the discount-checks for use indefinitely, as in the lapse oftime the discounts granted by a merchant might vary accordingly as theprice of goods would rise or drop. Thus by limiting the time of use ofthe coupons to one month the merchant will be at liberty at the end ofthat time Without embarrassment or retraction of his word to change therate of dis-1 count.

As before stated, in distributing to purchasers or consumers uponacomplimentary basis it is intended that such distribution shall be infavor of diiferent persons from time to time in so far as possible, sothat the benefits accruing from the use of this system will not beconfined to a favored few, which, in connection with the time-validityfeature, will have the treble eifect of inducing trade within thespecific cycles or periods of time, of maintaining the novelty of thesystem, and of placing a definite or decided premium upon each of allissues of the trade-books, the maximum circulation at all times to belimitedto a basis of a certain number of credentials per thousand ofpopulation of the cities, towns, or sections in which operated.

Where used in a State or in the several counties of a State, the holderof the book will be entitled to discounts in any part of the territorycovered by the system, provided,

of course, that the advertisement of the merchant with whom it isdesired to trade appears in the book.

The manner of arranging the pages of the book, as before pointed out,will be one of choice, and I therefore desire it to be understooddistinctly that I do not limit myself to the precise arrangement ofpages shown herein or as to disposition of the printed matter andrulings or as to the printed matter spread upon the pages, as additionalinformation may be added to the pages from time to time or be changedand still be within the scope of the invention.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, andmany advan tages of the herein-described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without further description, and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, andminor details of construction may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Particular stress is laid on the connection between the contract-i. 6.,Notice to holder, the Discount checks, theNon-transferablecharacteristic or element and the affixing to the bookof the name of the month of issuance, whereby all the discount-checksmust be presented during the life of the book, which is one month, andthe amount of discount for any sale is not permitted to exceed twodollars. Without these safeguards thrown around the use of the book itsvalue would be of a very limited character.

What I claim is- 1. A book comprising a series of connected thoughseparable discount-checks of different values, a list of names ofbusiness-houses with the designated rate of discount allowed by eachhouse, and a separate series of advertisements corresponding to the listof names.

2. A book comprising a page made up of a series of connected thoughseparable discount-checks each having the same designating-number butpossessed of difierent discount values, a page or pages containing alist of names of business-houses, the rate of discount allowed by each,and their advertisement-number, and a separate page or pages\ containingthe advertisements of the aforesaid business-houses arranged in order tocorrespond with. the number in the list.

3. A book comprising a page made up of a series of connected thoughseparable discount-checks each having two numbers, and

ments of the aforesaid business-houses arranged in order tocorrespondwith the nu 1nber in the list.

4. A book comprising a page made up of a series of connected thoughseparable discount-checks each having two numbers, and a discount value,the numbers being uniform and designating, respectively, the number ofthe edition to which the book belongsand the number of the book itself,and the discount-checks varying in amounts, a page or pages containing alist of names of businesshouses, the rate of discount allowed by eachand their advertisement-number, and a separate page or pages containingthe advertisements of' the aforesaid business-houses arranged in orderto correspond with the number in the list, and a contract as an integralpart of the book, indicating the time limit within which thediscount-cheeks must be used.

5. A book comprising a page made up of a series of connected thoughseparable discount-checks each having two numbers, and

the number of the book itself, and the discountvalues of the checksvaryingin amounts, a page or pages containing a list of names ofbusiness-houses, the rate of discount allowed by each and theiradvertisement-number, a separate page or pages containing the advermentsof the aforesaid business-houses arranged in order to correspond withthe number in the list, and a contract as an integral part of the book,indicating the time limit within which the discount-checks must be used,the front cover of the book to bear the name of the owner, the number ofthe book, and the month issued.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

AMOS A. GLISSON.

Witnesses:

A. J. LANDEGARD, W. J. WARRINER.

